Law Enforcement

LAPD officer dies after off-duty car crash
A Los Angeles Police Department patrol officer died Saturday morning after an off-duty car crash that occurred Thursday in Santa Clarita, according to the department's media relations. "It is with heavy hearts and tears in our eyes that we share the sad news that one of #LAPD Rampart Division's finest has passed away. Police Officer III, K. Talbot #31941 was an amazing officer and friend, and she will be sorely missed," the division's Facebook stated around 12:30 p.m.
KTLA

No 'blue flu' but officers to make their case
When Los Angeles City Council members come back this week from their nearly four-week recess, there will be no shortage of issues facing them. Chief among them is the ongoing negotiations with the Los Angeles Police Protective League and the contract widely rejected by officers. The officers are planning to remind them first-hand about the issue at Tuesday's City Council meeting where the Police Protective League has urged the cops to turn out in force to make their case.
Los Angeles Daily News

Video:
Los Angeles Police Protective League President Tyler Izen explains to NBC4's Conan Nolan why LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and Police Chief Charlie Beck should not directly lobby officers over a proposed contract.
NBC4

Van Nuys police fatally shoot man suspected of throwing rocks at cars
Police Friday were investigating a deadly officer-involved shooting in the San Fernando Valley. The shooting happened around 3:30 a.m. in the 6700 block of Hayvenhurst Avenue in Van Nuys, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Neighbors called 911 to report a man yelling and throwing rocks at vehicles. When officers arrived on scene, they found a man matching the suspect description and tried to arrest him.
CBS LA

Slain USC student left trail of blood that police followed
Detectives determined that a USC graduate student found dead in his apartment Thursday morning had been attacked earlier just blocks away in part because of a "significant amount of blood" leading to the apartment from the crime scene, an LAPD official familiar with the investigation said. "The official said criminologists traced the blood from Xinran Ji's 30th Street apartment to the intersection of 29th Street and Orchard Avenue, where the assault occurred.
Los Angeles Times

Man shot to death in Pacoima following verbal dispute
A 29-year-old man was shot and later died after a verbal dispute in Pacoima early Friday. The shooting occurred on the 13000 block of Pearce Street around 1 a.m., Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Derek Brown said. Brown said the 28-year-old suspect fled the scene after the shooting and has been identified. The victim was pronounced dead at a hospital, Brown said.
City News Service

LA murder suspect fleeing to Mexico captured on the freeway
California Highway Patrol officers pulled over the suspect, whose name was not immediately available, on southbound Interstate 805 at I-8 about 3:15 p.m. at the request of an undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's detective, CHP public-affairs Officer Robert Catano said. They arrested the driver, along with a passenger, without incident, he said. The suspect was heading for Mexico, according to CBS News 8. The freeway was shutdown for about 30 minutes.
Times of San Diego

Police need help finding missing woman, 65, suffering from diabetes, dementia
Police are asking for the public's help finding a 65-year-old woman suffering from diabetes, depression and dementia. Lollet Williams was last seen by a family member about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, as she was getting off a Metro bus at the intersection of Western Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to Los Angeles police. Williams apparently told family members that she wanted to return to her native Belize by way of a Greyhound bus.
CBS LA

Good Samaritan dies after attack while protecting a child at fast-food restaurant
Homicide detectives Friday were seeking the public's help in identifying a man believed to be responsible for the death of a 57-year-old Hollywood man attacked while protecting a child. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Gabriel Ortega was attacked around 9:35 p.m. June 18 inside a McDonald's restaurant in the 1400 block of Vine Street, between Sunset Boulevard and Fountain Avenue.
CBS LA

North Hollywood man to be booked for attempted murder after allegedly assaulting his mother
A 24-year-old man was in the process of being booked for attempted murder Sunday after he allegedly assaulted his mother at their North Hollywood home, leaving her unconscious and in critical condition, police said Sunday. Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to an "assault with a deadly weapon" radio call for an ambulance at about 2:25 a.m. Sunday at the 11300 block of Oxnard Street near Tujunga Avenue, said Lt. Brian Morrison of the LAPD's North Hollywood Division.
Los Angeles Daily News

Prisons

755 drug convicts could get released early
An estimated 755 convicts in San Diego and Imperial counties could get out of prison earlier because of a proposed change to lower federal drug sentencing guidelines. In April, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recommended reducing time behind bars for most drug crimes in a move that would reverse some policies enacted in past decades. The change is set to take effect Nov. 1.
U-T San Diego

Public Safety

Is cellphone driving ban working?
There is no shortage of grim statistics depicting the deadly consequences of texting or talking on a cellphone behind the wheel. As research has mounted, dozens of states have implemented bans on cellphone use in an effort to make the roadways safer. But a recent research study out of a Colorado university questions whether bans are having their desired effect - at least in California.
U-T San Diego

City Government

Mayor sets out to transform L.A. streets through 'urban acupuncture'
San Pedro's Gaffey Street is no one's idea of a quaint village. Cars pour off the 110 Freeway, frequently at high speeds. The street's palm trees provide little shade. The corridor is dominated by businesses catering to the automobile - KFC, Taco Bell and 7-Eleven, among others. Yet Mayor Eric Garcetti hopes to transform Gaffey and 14 other major thoroughfares into hubs of neighborhood activity.
Los Angeles Times